But let\u2019s talk about the other bit. The thing really enabled by those pill-shaped cameras and sensors on the front of the Quest 3, the thing that has Meta believing the Quest 3 isn\u2019t just \u201cthe third Quest\u201d but the first of something else entirely. The Quest 3\u2019s mixed reality features are simultaneously the most impressive and most frustrating part of this headset: they\u2019ve convinced me that there\u2019s some seriously cool and fun tech at work here and also that we\u2019re really not particularly close to mainstream MR.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The first and most practical thing the cameras do is provide better passthrough, the view that lets you see your real-world space through your headset. On the Quest 2, that was a grainy black-and-white mess. Now it\u2019s in full color and dramatically higher resolution. Not high <\/em>resolution, mind you \u2014 just higher. Good enough that you can see your cup of coffee; not good enough to see if it\u2019s coffee or tea. Good enough to see the time on your watch; not good enough to read the text of your notification.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The Quest 3\u2019s passthrough lets it automatically scan your room, which is much better than creating boundaries yourself.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
The improved passthrough makes a lot of things about Quest Life easier. The frame rate is smooth enough to stay comfortable as I walk around with the headset on, which makes it easier to wear for long stretches. It can automatically set your boundaries in your room, so you don\u2019t have to scan the floor anymore. You can double-tap on the side of your headset at any time to jump into passthrough mode in case you need to look at something or see which dog \/ chair \/ family member you just whacked while playing Supernatural<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
But the reason the passthrough really matters is because it\u2019s what makes mixed reality possible. The Quest can take those camera feeds and superimpose content over them in real time. The headset first has you walk around to scan your surroundings \u2014\u00a0in my case, my messy basement \u2014 and then lets you play in them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The reason passthrough really matters is because it\u2019s what makes mixed reality possible<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Technically speaking, the mixed reality on the Quest 3 is\u2026 fine. It struggles badly in low light, turning everything grainy and low-res, but if you\u2019re in a well-lit space, it\u2019s mostly accurate. There\u2019s some warping a bit around the edges, so it can seem a little bit like the floor is moving or you\u2019re on a light dose of some hallucinogenic drug. It also warps and distorts around your hands as they move through space. But for a first generation of mixed reality, it\u2019s a solid start.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The problem is, there\u2019s almost nothing compelling to do in mixed reality on the Quest 3. The single most fun MR experience I\u2019ve had so far is First Encounters, <\/em>a mini-game in which tiny Koosh ball-looking aliens blow holes in your room and try to attack you while you try and capture them. It\u2019s fun, silly, and really does make it feel like an alien craft has crashed into your house. It\u2019s much more fun to play First Encounters <\/em>in my basement than it would be in a purely VR space. But First Encounters<\/em> is the demo experience to teach you how to use mixed reality! It\u2019s a bad sign that that\u2019s the best thing on the platform. Practically everything else I\u2019ve tried is fun but simple \u2014\u00a0like Cubism, <\/em>a puzzle game \u2014\u00a0or still basically a tech demo.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Passthrough looks pretty good when the room\u2019s well lit \u2014\u00a0and pretty grainy in low light.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
In the long run, while I think VR is perfectly suited to immersive gaming, MR is likely to be much more of a real-world tech. That\u2019s why the form factor matters so much: walking around the world with a cool heads-up display is only really going to take off if that display doesn\u2019t look stupid or gadget-y. MR will be cool for navigation, education, making Pokemon Go <\/em>even more fun. The Quest 3 is mostly focused on MR for business and gaming, but both are better experiences in VR right now. For MR to really take off, we\u2019re going to need more than just VR games reworked for passthrough; we\u2019re going to need an entirely new class of apps and ideas. There\u2019s not much of that in the Quest 3 yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
That might help explain why even some of the MR games that do exist would be better off in VR. Drop Dead: The Cabin<\/em> has an MR mode called \u201cHome Invasion,\u201d but its MR features work so badly the game\u2019s basically unplayable in that mode. Figmin XR<\/em> is a fun game for building stuff, but it seemed to have no idea that my coffee table is a hard surface that objects shouldn\u2019t just fall through. Many of these games need to update for the Quest 3\u2019s new depth sensor and passthrough abilities; others need to rethink their whole strategies. Very few things I tried actually interacted with my physical space in the way true mixed reality should.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I\u2019m sure that will change eventually. The Quest 3 and Vision Pro are the first compelling reasons for developers to care about mixed reality, so I\u2019m hopeful that over the next year or so, we\u2019ll get a lot of good MR content and games. But right now, it\u2019s pretty bleak out there. Even the exciting new games coming to the Quest 3, like Assassin\u2019s Creed: Nexus <\/em>and Roblox <\/em>and the all-important Powerwash Simulator, <\/em>are still VR games.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
That\u2019s because, for all it\u2019s technically capable of, the Quest 3 is still a VR headset. A very good one, to be clear; my favorite one yet, even. But even great VR headsets are far from a mainstream product right now. If you believe mixed reality could change that and could entice even people who don\u2019t care about VR headset and VR worlds to strap something to their face \u2014 and I do believe that \u2014\u00a0the Quest 3 just doesn\u2019t quite deliver.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Maybe this is the headset before the <\/em>headset, the one that helps entice developers to make cool stuff that turn into killer apps for the Quest 4. Heck, maybe none of this matters until the device itself is less \u201cheadset\u201d and more \u201cglasses\u201d and until we\u2019ve had a series of societal debates about whether you should make fun of people who wear these things in public. It\u2019s going to take a lot of technical and social change to make mixed reality mainstream, and it\u2019s probably going to take a few years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Until then, the Quest 3 will remain what it is: an excellent VR headset and nothing else.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Photography by David Pierce \/ The Verge<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n